Pearls of Wisdom

As a coach involved in three sports (baseball; soccer; basketball) in Fort Lee over the last ten years, I have watched crazy coaches (myself included) and overzealous parents. I have endured parents who believe that community sports programs are a babysitting service, where they drop their children off, go shopping and come back to pick them up at the end of the game or practice. As a little league coach, I even had one parent forget about her son on two occasions and fail to pick him up; I had to call her and drop him off at their home.  For the record, these particular parents have no clue what they are missing in not watching their children improve and excel. I am particularly intolerant of parents of pee-wees (5 to 7 year-olds) who fail to attend events. 

But far and away my “favorite parents” are those who suffer with a disease that I refer to as the “NBA syndrome." These parents believe that their child is the next budding superstar in the making. They spend thousands of dollars on private soccer coaches, private basketball coaches or private batting and pitching coaches. There is certainly nothing wrong with obtaining professional training to help children reach their potential in a specific sport. It is a very positive thing to instill confidence in a child and inspire them to be “the best that they can be." It is not so wonderful to publicly announce that “my child will be a superstar." It is not so wonderful to see these children demean other players who cannot perform up to their standards. Finally, it is not necessarily so wonderful to convince a child that they will someday be a professional athlete when the odds are so incredibly stacked against them.  There are numerous stories of children who failed to pursue academic careers because of a parental dream of a career as a professional athlete.

According to NCAA statistics, the odds of a high school athlete eventually becoming a pro basketball player are .03%, a pro baseball player .4%, and a pro soccer player .07%. 

I have had the pleasure of coaching some incredibly talented children through the years. Two years ago, the 10-year-old All-Stars from the Fort Lee American League won the District Championship for the first time since the league was established in 1954. I will never forget these children, who performed with such courage and heart to exceed all expectations. And if I see even one of these children someday become a professional baseball player, I will probably be the first to boast that “I coached him." But I will be even more proud to see one of them become a successful businessman, gracing the cover of Forbes Magazine.